As part of providing a service over a network, e.g., a cable network or fiber optic network, a device authentication and authorization procedure is normally used. This allows services to be provided to devices entitled to receive a service, e.g., in accordance with a service contract corresponding to an account with which the device corresponds, while services will be denied to devices which are not entitled to receive the services.
Leased television STBs often use a built-in unique identifier such as a network interface Media Access Control (MAC) address. The MAC address is often used to provision the device with a specific account since in the case of a lease, the MAC address of the device can be associated with the account of the customer to whom the leased device is supplied, e.g., at the time or prior to the device being provided to the customer leasing the device. Since the MAC address is generally known at the time a device is leased, difficult to falsify and can be communicated at the time the leased device seeks to register for a service, it is often used for authenticating and/or registering a leased device without the need for the customer to enter information used for authentication and/or account identification.
Customer Owned And Managed (COAM) devices are purchased from retail stores and installed by the customer. In such cases, since the service provider is not providing the device, the MAC address of the device is initially unknown to the service provider and is not associated with the account of a user. The MAC address, or any other unique identifier in the case of a COAM device is often unknown or unavailable to software provided by a pay-television provider or to software supplied by such a service provider that may be loaded onto the COAM device in order for the user to obtain access to the service. An example of such a situation is where a web browser on a COAM device is used for the user interface via which a user accesses a service.
In the case of leased devices, a user can often activate and use the device based on authentication and/or authorization procedure that are based on the devices MAC address and the fact that the leased device is normally associated with the user's account at the time the user leases the device.
In the case of COAM devices, the user may have to download software, initiate contact with a security server or other network device before being able to receive service. As part of the interaction with the security server the user may have to provide account information, a password and/or other information required to authenticate the user and/or device. While having a user provide such information is possible, it is not user friendly. Often a user has difficulty remembering account information, password information and/or COAM device identification information that may be requested as part of the process of provisioning a COAM device, e.g., authenticating the user and/or device, authorizing the device and associating it with an account. Moreover such manual provisioning/authentication process is a further annoyance in cases where the user may be using several such COAM devices with the user having to manually go through the authentication process for each such device.
In view of the above discussion it should be appreciated that there is a need for new and improved service provisioning methods which would allow for the use of a COAM device without the hassle of a user to manually provide the authentication and other information now commonly required before a COAM device is allowed to receive a service for which a subscription and/or a customer account is required.